Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa, Vol.2. No.2  2010 

DEMOCRACY AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF RIVERS STATE: 1999 – 2007

Nekabari Johnson Nna &

Prince Ikechukwu Igwe

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ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to examine the extent to which Nigeria’s democratic experience (1999-2007) has

elevated the living standards of the majority of the people. It specifically aimed at search lighting the

impact of the regime’s key poverty reduction strategies vis-à-vis the overall poverty situation in the

country in general and Rivers State in particular. The study focused on two poverty reduction strategies:

National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Rivers State Economic Empowerment and

Development Strategy (RIVSEEDS). The study utilized the primary and secondary sources of data in

realizing its central objective. The Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) method was also adopted in

the course of this research work. The sample population was drawn from ten Local Government Areas

(LGAs) of Rivers State; Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre, Emohua, Etche, Omuma, Ahoada East,

Ahoada West, Abua/Odual and Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni LGAs. The research work employed the Political

Economy (P.E.) method of analysis. The PE approach elucidates in very clear terms how the policies and

reforms of successive governments in Nigeria have debilitated the productive forces of a great number of

her population. The findings of this study showed that the democratic experience has impacted little to the

poverty situation of the people of Rivers State. It also revealed that the present government’s poverty

reduction programme is yet to be complemented by other macroeconomic policies to yield the desired

results of poverty reduction, wealth creation and capacity building.

KEY WORDS: DEMOCRACY, POVERTY REDUCTION; PARTICIPATORY POVERTY

ASSESSMENT METHOD; POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH; NATIONAL POVERTY

ERADICATION PROGRAMME (NAPEP) AND THE RIVERS STATE ECONOMIC

EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (RIVSEEDS)

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INTRODUCTION

Poverty is a serious problem in Nigeria. The country produces between 1.8-2.0 million

barrels of oil per day and has huge potential for development, and has, on a per capita

basis, the fourth largest income per capita after South Africa, Angola and Zambia. While

Oil accounts for 90 per cent of its export income, it also exports Cocoa, Rubber and other

non-oil products. In 1995 alone, it earned more than 10 billion US Dollars from oil.

In spite of the enormous human and material resources and its potential for development,

Nigeria remains one of the poorest countries not only in the world but also in sub Saharan

Africa with increasingly sharp decline in investment, in education, health, infrastructure,

and thus decline in social services. This has had a negative consequence for human

development and welfare. The government’s own National Planning office admits that

the number of people living in poverty increased from 39.07million in 1992 to 70million

in 2004. (National Bureau of Statistics, 2007, p.38). In 1978, the World Bank ranked

Nigeria as a middle-income country with a per capita income of about 1,000 US Dollars

per annum, and an exchange rate of 2 US Dollars to the Naira. However, by 1990, the

World Bank revealed that the per capita income had declined from 1,000 US Dollars to

290 US Dollars and the country slipped from a middle-income country to the 17th

poorest country in the world in terms of per capita income. Oladapo, (1998:49). The

United Nations Human Development Report (2003) ranked Nigeria “low” in terms of

human development index which captures such indicators as life expectancy, education

etc and placed Nigeria 152 out of 175 countries. The Punch Newspaper of 15 September

2006 thus laments that Nigeria which was about the sixth largest exporter of crude oil and

one of the 50th richest countries in the world had become one of the 20 poorest countries

in the world.

In the same vein, Thomas and Canagarajah, (2002:4) reveal that between 1970 and 1990

Nigeria earned about 200 billion US Dollars primarily through exports some of which

was invested locally but these investments had very little impact on the welfare of the

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people. Today, about 83.9 per cent of Nigerians live below two US Dollars a day.

(UNDP, 2009:178) This has raised a lot of concern not only in government circles but

also among scholars.

It was a common assumption that the deepening level of poverty resulted from the long

years of military dictatorship which the country had experienced (about 35 years of the

nearly 50 were spent under military rule). As Harbour (2001) notes authoritarian

governments thrive on and deliberately create an atmosphere of censorship, intimidation

and intolerance. In this situation, the needs of the poor can too easily be ignored by

unelected and unresponsive elites more concerned with self enrichment.

Expectations were therefore raised when the country transited from a military

dictatorship to a constitutional democracy in 1999. The new democratic regime therefore

made poverty alleviation its major policy thrust, manifesting in its National Economic

Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Seven Point Agenda of the

current democratic dispensation. As Macpherson (1972) contends, ‘the goal of all

democracies is the provision of the condition for the full and free development of the

essential human capacities of all members of the society’. Is democracy therefore a

necessary and sufficient condition for the reduction or alleviation of poverty? Can this

also be true of Nigeria?

The major objective of this paper is to examine the extent to which Nigeria’s democracy

between 1999 and 2007 elevated the living conditions of the majority of the people.

Specifically, it seeks to searchlight the impact of the democratic administration’s key

poverty reduction strategies vis-à-vis; the overall poverty situation in the country in

general and Rivers State in particular. More specifically, it attempts to:

1) Evaluate the approaches to poverty reduction with particular focus on who the

target groups were and the nature of intervention.

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2) Assess the administration’s poverty reduction strategies within the context of

Performance Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT).

3) Proffer recommendations based on the findings.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A valid and concrete analysis of the extent to which Nigeria’s nascent democracy has

improved the lot of the majority of Nigerians in the past seven years must as a necessity

be predicated on a sound theoretical base.

Poverty goes beyond income and other economic variables, it is also political because it

includes rights, power relations and access to and distribution of resources, it also cuts

across the social sphere as it involves the question of human dignity, social relationships

and opportunities. A broad based approach is therefore imperative. It is for this reason

that we adopted the Political Economy Approach.

The subject matter of political economy is the system of relations of production in its

connection with the productive forces, or the laws of production, exchange, distribution

and consumption of material goods at different stages in the development of human

society. Nikitin, (1983:24) corroborates the above strand when he posited that political

economy studies the basis of the development of society which is the production of

material wealth, the mode of production. More than that, he adds that, it is not with

‘production’ that political economy deals with, but with the social relations of men in

production, with the social system of production. Political economy thus, considers the relations of production and economic laws of all the

socio economic formations that have ever existed in history, from the primitive –

communal mode of production to the communist.

The method of political economy is that of dialectical materialism which presupposes,

first, investigation of the production relations in the process of their emergence and

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development i.e. historically, second consideration of this process as an objective reality

i.e. materialistically, third revelation of the internal contradictions of development

inherent in social production i.e. dialectically.

On the whole, this “method of study is a historical and holistic orientation for the analysis

of social formation and their contradictory relationship.” Nna, (2000:169)

The political economy approach illuminates how the majority of Nigerians that bear the

brunt of generating the nation’s wealth live in misery, squalor and degradation that

threaten their continued existence.

The employment of the P.E. method of study therefore elucidates in very clear terms how

the policies and reforms of successive governments in Nigeria have debilitated the

productive forces of a great number of the population. It basically deals with class

relations in the society, in terms of what laws or policies are made, what particular

economic, social or political interests these laws or policies are designed to serve and

how these laws or policies impact on the economic survival of the mass of the society.

Commenting on the productive forces (a combination of labour, means of labour and

objects of labour, considered fundamental to the development of any society by Marxian

Political Economy) Ake, (1981) maintains that;

“The state of the development of productive forces decisively influence social organisation, culture, the level of welfare and even consciousness… Africa’s economic backwardness and abject dependence today reflects the state of the development of her productive forces.”

What is deducible from the above is that the level of development of the productive

forces determines the level of development of any society. Consequently, the stagnation

or destruction of the productive forces would mean a halt and perhaps a reversal of the

development process.

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The significance of the P.E. Approach is that it recognises the importance of non

economic factors: history, politics and law in the study of any ‘economic’ problem. As

Okowa showed, “the political economy theories build around the interplay of economic,

sociological, political, psychological and geographical elements within the context of

historical change.” Okowa, (1996:203)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The data for this study is derived from both primary and secondary sources. Primary

sources include observations, interviews and questionnaires. This research work adopts

the Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) method in its field work. The PPA is an

iterative, participatory research process that seeks to understand poverty from the

perspective of a range of stakeholders, and to involve them directly in planning follow-up

action. PPA seeks to understand poverty in its local, social, institutional and political

context. A key element of the PPA is that of focused group discussion, (Narayam et al.

2000:15)

To this end, personal observations and unstructured interviews were used in discussions.

The questionnaires were personally administered on subject samples in a bid to highlight

salient variables- living standards from holistic and participatory perspectives.

The sample population constitutes residents and inhabitants of ten (10) Local Government Areas

(LGAs) of Rivers State (out of 23 local governments)- Port Harcourt; Obio/Akpor; Ikwerre;

Emohua; Etche; Omuma; Ahoada East; Ahoada West; Abua/Odual and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni

LGAs. A total of 200 questionnaires were administered as follows: twenty (20) per local

government randomly distributed to each of the ten LGA selected for the study. Simple

percentages were used for analysis. The secondary sources include publications of the Central

Bank of Nigeria, Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) in Nigeria, The World Bank, UNDP Reports,

the FOS/UNICEF Multiple Cluster Survey, Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, articles and world

wide websites that are of relevance to this research work.

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The FOS national account data are both by sector of origin and by expenditure method at current

as well as constant prices. In many sectors, gross output is converted to net output by applying

fixed coefficients observed from the past (base) years. The FOS also estimate price deflators for

each sector of activity that are used to arrive at the sectoral value added at constant prices. In

many cases, sectoral price deflators are not based on producer prices, but on consumer price sub-

indices for a particular activity. The deflator for consumption is proxied by the Consumer Price

Index (CPI). The National Consumer Surveys implemented by the FOS are based on a

nationwide household survey on various dimensions of household’s living standards. Data is

collected at three level; household; community and individual. The sample frame is based on

population census. The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures human development by

combining three dimensions of development-longevity (life expectancy at birth), knowledge

(adult literacy and mean years of schooling), and income.

The facts collated from both primary and secondary sources were empirically analysed to realise

research objectives using the ‘descriptive method’. The suitability of this method is appreciated

when one highlights the fact that the descriptive approach is most concerned with “conditions

that exist, practices that prevail; beliefs, point of view or traditions that are developing”. Ofo,

(1994:8)

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DEMOCRACY AND POVERTY REDUCTION

Sorensen, (1991) examined the relationship between Democracy, Dictatorship and Development using four case studies, India, China, Taiwan and Costa Rica; using two hypotheses;

1) Democratic regimes may not perform well for economic development since they are less able to withstand popular pressures for increases in consumption and welfare, more so, because policy pressures are sometimes seen as vulnerable to influence the powerful interest groups.

2) Autocratic regimes committed to growth may achieve economic development, but are likely to deprive citizens of welfare, focusing instead, mainly on acquiring capital for investment.

He concludes that democratic regimes may be more susceptible to elite interests and have

slower reforms while autocratic rule in small, open countries can generate higher savings as a

basis for higher levels of growth (Bryant, 1992)

In the same vein, Varshney, (1999) contends that democracies are not capable of eliminating

poverty. He argues that democracies by themselves do not eliminate poverty, but economic

strategies do, pointing out that in one practical respect, policies towards the poor can emerge

from the same source in democratic and authoritarian politics, both of which can align

themselves with the poor if the political elites have a consistent commitment to them and they

force the state structure, particularly its bureaucratic institutions to translate that commitment

into an equally consistent policy implementation. He makes a distinction between direct and

indirect methods of poverty alleviation and their corresponding political and economic

significance. To him, the direct method of poverty alleviation covers such issues as public

provision of income and assets to the poor while the indirect methods of poverty alleviation is

growth mediated, including not just any kind of growth but the kind of growth that aims at

creating more opportunities for increase in incomes of the poor.

Varshney therefore concludes that no democracy in the developing world is capable of

successfully eliminating poverty. This conclusion is predicated on his assumption that direct

methods of poverty alleviation have greater political salience in democracies and that the poor

are typically not from the same ethnic group and as such, direct, market based methods of

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poverty alleviation are both more sustainable and more effective and a split between ethnicity

and class militates against the mobilization (and voting) of the poor as a class and thus, dilutes

the exertion of pro-poor political pressures on governments.

The United Nations Development Programme (2003:134) focuses attention on the relationship

between poverty and the political empowerment of the poor. It therefore specifically argues that;

people must organise for collective action to influence the circumstances and decisions affecting their lives. To advance their interests, their voices must be heard in the corridors of power… Ending human poverty requires a democratic space in which people can articulate demands, act collectively and fight for a more equitable distribution of power…Government that acts in the interest of poor people is easier to achieve in democratic political systems where the poor represent a significant electoral bloc

The Human Freedom Index adopted by the UNDP iterates poverty is not just about loss

of income and lower expenditure levels but also freedom. Poverty is a denial of human

rights. Human rights here refer to rights that are inherent to the person and belong equally

to all human beings. Their realization has to be carried out as a participatory, accountable

and transparent process, implying equality in decision-making.

Human rights instruments-such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-provide a

coherent framework for the practical action- at the international, national and sub national

levels to reduce poverty.

The notion of poverty is at the centre of human rights-based approach to poverty

reduction. The poor must be considered as the principal actors of development and not as

passive recipients; they are strategic partners rather than target groups.

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NATIONAL POVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMME (NAPEP)

The National Poverty Eradication Programme serves as the Secretariat for the

National Poverty Eradication Council, the apex body for the formulation of

policies on poverty in the country.

Specifically NAPEP acts as the primary government agency to coordinate and

monitor all poverty eradication efforts at federal, state and local government

levels. It also assists NAPEC (National Poverty Eradication Council) at the federal

level and SPEC (State Poverty Eradication Council) at the state level to formulate

poverty reduction policies nationwide and intervenes in specific poverty reduction

areas to provide social protection through economic empowerment as may be

needed.

The National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) was established by the

present administration in 2001 to help eradicate extreme poverty in the country

by the year 2010. NAPEP, (April, 2001:20)

The move is also generally in line with the United Nations Millennium

Developments Goals (MDG) of halving the proportion of people living in poverty

by the year 2015. UN-HDR, (2003)

NAPEP is the major Federal Government Programme implementing the goals of

NEEDS (National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy) at the

grassroots, supporting the National Planning Commission and other institutions

and agencies that play a role in promoting employment generation, wealth

creation, value re-orientation. NAPEP thus, aims at helping the government in

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creating mass participation in the development process in the communities

principally for the objective of eradicating poverty.

Owing to the Federal nature of Nigeria, the structures of the poverty alleviation

programme are replicated at the state and local government levels to support

any program initiated at these levels. Thus, the programme has offices and

coordinators in all 36 states, the federal capital territory and all 774 local

government areas of the federation.

Structurally, NAPEC is chaired by the President, with the Vice President and

Secretary to the federation as vice chairman and secretary respectively. At the

Federal level, the programme has National Coordinating Committees with the

National Coordinator of Programme (NCP) appointed by the President as the

Head with representatives of other core poverty eradication ministries. At the

State level, the State Coordinating Committees (SCC) is headed by the State

Coordinator alongside other relevant ministries and likewise the local government

monitoring committees.

Internally, NAPEP maintains four (4) departments as follows; Administration and

Supplies; Monitoring and Evaluation; Research and programme; Finance and

Accounts.

The administrative framework and operations of NAPEP in Rivers State are in

accordance with the above Federal Government’s modus operandi.

It is worth remarking that NAPEP is not a specific sector implementation office,

its main mandate as approved by the federal executive council is:

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To multi-sectorally coordinate and monitor all poverty eradication efforts in Nigeria with a view to harmonizing these efforts and bringing about the focus, collaboration, partnership and complementation required at levels to ensure better delivery, maximum impact, effective utilization of resources and easy review. (NAPEP, 2002:5)

The Secondary mandate of NAPEP is:

To extend specific but scaled intervention programmes and projects on stressed, critical and sensitive sectors of the economy periodically to supplement and provide relief in the sector with a view to enhancing the impact of the effort of the statutory implementing ministries, agencies and parastatals. (ibid)

Accordingly, NAPEP activities in Rivers State have been condensed into four

multi-sectoral schemes with programmes as follows: The Youth Empowerment

Scheme (YES); The Rural Infrastructure Development Scheme (RIDS); The Social

Welfare Resources Development and Consideration Scheme (SOWESS); and the

Natural Resources Development and Conservation Scheme (NRDCS). These

Schemes cover all the institutional landscape of poverty, consisting of economic

empowerment, provision of economic infrastructures and provision of social

welfare services. It is based on these multi-sectoral schemes and programmes

that all efforts relevant to poverty eradication in the state are classified, coded,

monitored and their impacts assessed.

It is worthy of illumination that the poverty eradication targets are set in three

stages. The first and most important is targeting to restore hope in most of the

affected people. Here all the efforts are geared to lower poverty line or push the

affected people above the line on the pyramid of poverty. The second stage is

aimed at restoring economic independence and confidence, while the third stage

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is the final stage of wealth creation. This is ought to be the ultimate positions

where all Nigerians shall be free of the reigns of absolute poverty.

They would have been empowered to afford all basic necessities of life,

participate in National Development and effectively take the abundantly available

opportunities to create wealth and additional comfort for themselves.

The overall target of NAPEP is to eradicate absolute poverty in Rivers State and

Nigeria in general by the year 2010.

In the ultimate, the target is to ensure that all the indigenes of Rivers State are

provided with;

Steady source of real income Food Education Water Housing Power Supply Roads Health Care Facilities Good Governance Security and A Conductive environment for productive activities. (op. cit)

It is against the above targets that this study appraised the extent to which

NAPEP goals have been attained in Rivers State in the period under review. The

focus on Rivers State is appreciated when we bring to limelight the fact that

Rivers State is one of the states in the Niger Delta region, the treasure base of

the nation where about 90 per cent of the country’s export earnings is

harnessed. (RIVSEEDS, 2004:14); (Derefaka and Okorobia (ed), 2008:194).

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Rivers State accounts for over 48 per cent of onshore petroleum oil, the single

biggest source and 100 per cent of natural gas in the country. (RIVSEEDS,

2004:32)

In pursuant to the above poverty eradication targets in Rivers State, the

estimated vacancy allocations for Capacity Acquisition Programme (CAP) and

Mandatory Attachment Programme (MAP) in 2001 were as follows: Cap -3,143

persons; MAP -1,572 persons, for a projected population of 4.1m persons in

2001 according to NPC (National Population Commission) Figures.

In the same vein, the 2001 fund allocation for Cap and MAP respectively were

N94.3m and N94m ($628,667 and $626,667 respectively at the exchange rate of

N150 to US$1). Furthermore, the MAP 2002 industrial attachment programme for

graduates of tertiary institutions in Rivers State stood at N107.4m, while the CAP

financial assistance to unemployed youths and women in Rivers State in the form

of soft loans stood at N19.015m in 2004.

In 2005, 60 youths were trained in capacity building, and 30,000 life-line given to

about 250 Gokana widows early July 2005 with a zero interest, Tide Online,

(Sept. 2005:5) while a total of about 68 “KEKE-NAPEP” were distributed between

2002-2006. NAPEP-Rivers State, (2006:10)

RIVERS STATE ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

STRATEGY (RIVSEEDS)

The National Economic Empowerment and Development strategy (NEEDS) in

close collaboration with the state government aimed to build a solid foundation

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for the attainment of Nigeria’s long term development goals over the medium

term (2003-2007).

This policy in collaboration with the state equivalent (SEEDS: State Economic

Empowerment and Development Strategy) was designed to promote

macroeconomic stability, improve the performance of the agricultural,

manufacturing, solid minerals and oil and gas sectors, improve delivery of basic

services, create an enabling environment for the private sector and invest in

human capital towards reducing the poverty of the people.

The Policy thrust of NEEDS amidst others included the sustenance of high broad

based non-oil GDP growth rate consistent with poverty reduction and

employment generation; diversification of the production structure away from

oil/mineral resources, ensuring international competitiveness.

Another major thrust of this policy which was launched in March 2004 was the

systematic reduction of the role of government in direct production of goods and

strengthening its facilitation and regulatory roles, pursuit of private/export led

growth, empowering the people through gainful employment and creating safety

nets for vulnerable groups.

As a corollary, the Rivers State Government developed in August 2004 its own

State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (RIVSEEDS).

Its strategy was to synergize with the Federal Government and achieve complete

restoration of the cherished values of civilized life, long lost to bad governance

and value bastardization.

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SEEDS IN Rivers State sought to achieve;

Capacity building, wealth creation, empowerment

and utilization of the critical reserve of manpower

resources abundant in the State and create

economic prosperity. (RIVSEEDS, Aug., 2004)

In accordance with the above mission the state launched some cardinal

programmes which included the state Independent Power Project, Mass

Production in Agriculture for domestic and industrial uses, Skills Acquisition in

partnership with the private initiative of The Adolescent Project (TAP); job

creation and income generation. In particular, the Presidential Initiative on

cassava production for domestic and external use which the state adopted and

is being intensively implemented are all geared towards job creation, capacity

building and industrialization.

In the same vein, the Rivers State Government also initiated the Technology and

industrial parks programme to encourage technology incubation and promote

information and communication Technology acquisition.

The economic development objectives of the State are private sector driven. This

is in tandem with the federal government’s goal of promoting private initiatives in

the drive to achieve human capacity utilization and socio economic growth and

development.

Furthermore, the State government also created the Agency for Re-Orientation,

Integrity, Services and Ethics (ARISE). It also set up its own Due Process organ

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known as the Cost Control Unit to vet all public expenditures and to ensure

maximum value for every public fund spent. This curbed a lot of budget

indiscipline, financial indiscretion, and encouraged transparency in the

management of public finances, contract administration and ensured best

practices in business and public affairs.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND REVIEW

Number of LGA - 10

Number of Questionnaire - 20/LGA

Number of Respondents - 200

Communities were randomly selected in each LGA

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ASSESSMENT OF GOVERNMENT’S POVERTY PROGRAMME IN

RIVERS STATE

S/N Variables Strongly Agree/Agree Strongly

Disagree/Disagree

No. % No. %

1 My Community is fully aware of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) established in 2001

116.12 58.06 83.88 41.94

2 My Community is fully aware of the Rivers State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (RIVSEEDS) established in 2004

96.76 48.38 103.24 51.62

3 Representatives of My community participated in the conception of these government’s poverty reduction programmes

70.96 35.48 129.04 64.52

4 Representatives of my community are involved in the implementation and management of these government’s poverty reduction programmes

69.56 34.78 130.44 65.22

5 The present government’s poverty reduction programme has significantly improved the socio economic profile of our LGA in terms of employment

69.56 34.78 130.44 65.22

6 The present government’s poverty reduction program has further enhanced our access to Micro-Credit facilities

72.72 36.36 127.28 63.64

7 The RIVSEEDS and NAPEP have contributed immensely to the acquisition of various skills in our LGA

90.32 45.16 109.68 54.84

8 Agricultural growth and development has 109.66 54.83 90.34 45.17

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been promoted by the present government’s poverty reduction programme

9 The present government poverty reduction programme has enhanced the overall standard of living of our LGA in terms of Housing

38.70 19.35 161.30 80.65

10 Access to portable water has greatly improved by the present government’s poverty reduction programme

45.16 22.58 154.84 77.42

11 The LGA’s transportation has been improved by the present government’s poverty reduction programme

58.06 29.03 141.94 70.97

12 The Cost of Food Items has been reduced and is now more affordable as a result of the present poverty reduction programme

6.44 3.22 193.56 96.78

13 The community’s Health Care Delivery System is now more accessible and affordable by the present government’s poverty reduction programme

64.50 32.25 135.50 67.75

14 The Electricity situation in the LGA has been greatly improved by the current government’s poverty reduction programme

6.44 3.22 193.56 96.78

15 Safety and security of lives and property in the Local Government has improved as a result of the present Government’s programme

32.24 16.12 167.76 83.88

16 Our Community is wholly represented in decision making process

38.70 19.35 161.30 80.65

Source: Authors’ Field Survey, 2007

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A review of the responses reveals that only about half of the people in the areas

under study are fully aware of the poverty reduction strategies of the

government. In fact, while about 58% have full knowledge of NAPEP, less than

half of the people (48.38) have knowledge of RIVSEEDS.

In terms of participation in conception, implementation and management of the

poverty reduction programmes a greater majority of the people are not involved

in this process. The field survey carried out in this regard shows that only 35%

of the people are involved in the implementation and management process.

Above all, the study further reveals that while about 19.35% are involved in the

decision making process, 80.65% are not represented in this process.

On the socio economic profile of the communities as it relates to employment

and access to micro-credit facilities the field survey shows that about 65%

strongly disagree that the present poverty reduction programmes have had

significant improvement in employment opportunities and access to micro-credit

facilities. This thus implies that there is still low per capital income and capacity

underutilization.

Nevertheless, the study highlights that Agricultural growth and development has

been promoted by the present government’s poverty reduction programme in

the areas under study. This is represented by 54.83% of the respondents, while

only 45.17 held a contrary opinion.

Furthermore, on the overall standard of living of the people, a large number of

the people (80.65%) vehemently held that the present poverty reduction

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programme have not impacted positively on their living standards. This thus,

shows that there is a looming gap between policy goals and results obtained.

The study further reveals that basic amenities as access to portable water,

transportation, health care delivery systems and electricity are still beyond reach

of the masses.

More still, the cost of food items, safety and security of lives and property of the

people have not witnessed any significant improvement by the present poverty

reduction strategies of the government.

The field study reveals that 84% of the people held that the poverty reduction

programme have not ameliorated their security status, more than that 96.78%

approximately 100% maintained that the cost of food items has neither reduced

nor is more affordable as a result of the government’s poverty reduction

strategies in their communities.

What the above shows is that the present government’s poverty reduction

programmes are yet to be complemented by other macroeconomic policies to

yield the desired results of poverty alleviation, wealth creation and capacity

building.

For instance, while so much effort is put on alleviating the poverty of the people

through NAPEP and RIVSEEDS, the government was at the same time, ‘wholly’

implementing the policies of privatization of public corporation, downsizing of the

ministries as well as increasing the pump price of petroleum products.

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This study notes that, the policy conception and implementation were

incongruent, inconsistent, and contradictory with the goals of poverty reduction.

Aside from the anti-people stance of the government, a major flaw is the

inherent contradiction of “downsizing” the public service. This defeats the

expressed intention of NEEDS as adopted by RIVSEEDS to create 7 million jobs

by 2007. In the areas under study 65.22% of the people contend that the

poverty reduction programmes have not impacted positively on the employment

opportunities in their areas. The overall effect being that at the end of 2007, the

unemployment level in the area in particular, and the country, in general,

deteriorated.

Electricity, which is crucial and central to empowerment and capacity building, is

grossly inadequate. The field study shows that 97% of the people strongly

disagree that the electricity situation in their areas has been greatly improved by

the current government’s poverty reduction programme. The implication of the

above being that while so much has being “aired” on the investment and

expenditure of government on electricity, there is little on ground to justify this.

The current spate of indictment by the Economic and Financial Crimes

Commission (EFCC) nationwide, especially with reference to the Independent

Power Project (IPP) embarked upon by most state governments lends credence

to the fact that embezzlement, corruption and financial indiscipline and

misappropriation is still very rife in the government. In March, 2010, the Acting

President of the federation inaugurated a 19-man Presidential Projects Assessment

Committee (PPAC) to look into projects embarked upon by the government. The above

is against the background of several allegations of financial mismanagement such as

the $16 billion expenditure on power generation by the former Olusegun Obasanjo

administration; misappropriation of N300 billion meant for road construction across the

153

country by the ministry of works and housing and several others. (This Day, March 24,

2010, p. 25)

The level of corruption and electoral malpractices debilitates the capacity of

government to truly mobilize the people to a true economic development

strategy resulting in the long run to anti-people stance, repression and

alienation. Good governance and sound home grown national ideology cannot be

held in isolation, they have to be attained.

The summary of findings with respect to the research questions shows and

justifies our hypothesis that,

1. Nigeria’s democracy (1999-2007) has impacted little on the poverty

situation of the people of Rivers State.

2. The poverty reduction strategies adopted by the present regime are

inconsistent, inadequate and inherently self-contradictory.

As Nna and Igwe, (2009:261) remarked; the policies of privatization, deregulation and the downsizing of the public service adopted by the government contradicted the ideals of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy and exacerbated the unemployment situation in the country.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study specifically aimed at search lighting the impact of Nigeria’s democratic

experience (1999-2007) on the poverty situation of the people of Rivers State.

To this end, the study focused on; the National Poverty Eradication Programme

(NAPEP) and the Rivers State Economic Empowerment and Development

Strategy (RIVSEEDS). The study thus, aimed to illuminate the extent to which

these strategies have proved to be theoretically adequate, empirically valid and

policy-wise, efficacious.

The Employment of the political economy method of study in this paper

elucidates in very clear terms how the policies and reforms of successive

governments in Nigeria have debilitated the productive forces of a great number

of her population. The study notes that in spite of the massive inflows of revenue

of about 200 billion US Dollars between 1990 and 1999 for instance, very little

impact was felt on the level of poverty reduction and over 70 per cent of

Nigerians remained poor.

The major subject variables chosen in this study were; awareness, participation

and representation in decision making process of the government’s poverty

reduction programme (NAPEP and RIVSEEDS), socio-economic profile with

reference to employment, access to micro-credit facilities, skill acquisition, agric

development, access to portable water, transportation, housing, health care

delivery system, electricity, cost of food items safety and security of lives and

property.

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The above variables were intended to inculcate the multidimensional and multi-

faceted nature of poverty. This study notes that poverty in its most general

sense is the lack of necessities, basic food, shelter, medical care and safety are

generally thought necessary based on shared value of human dignity.

Beyond the lack of basic physiological needs is also “powerlessness and

voicelessness”. Thus, while the poor has been generally identified as those

whose inability to contribute to the productive process is insufficient, that is

those who are unable to contribute adequately to the productive process to

warrant an income that would raise them above poverty line, there is an inherent

socio-economic and socio-political inequality orchestrated by social norms and

institutions which serve as key obstacles faced by poor men and women as they

attempt to eke a living against odds.

Narayam, D. et al (op cit p.15) captured this scenario when he reports that;

poor people’s experiences demonstrate again and again that

informal rules in use invariably override formal rules…. Precisely

because social norms are deeply embedded that change in one

part of a social system cannot bring about systemic changes….

Poor people’s experiences reflect fundamental inequities in power

among different social groups, and the lack of bridges or

horizontal linkages between those more powerful and those less

powerful… experiences of the poor are characterized by the lack

of power and voicelessness.

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What is deducible from the foregoing is that those who live in conditions of

poverty lack a wide range of socio economic, socio-political and other resources

and may thus, be described as “poor” or “impoverished”.

The participatory Poverty Assessment Method (PPA) adopted in this study further

reveals that favouritism and prebendalism have inundated the system, such that

only the privileged few have access to the provisions and facilities of the

programme.

Furthermore, this study reveals that access to basic amenities such as, electricity;

health care, good roads which are crucial and central to empowerment and

capacity building are grossly inadequate. This thus implies low per capita income

and high capacity underutilization, therefore, justifying our hypothesis that the

democratic experience of the government in the period under review has not

ameliorated the poverty situation of the people of Rivers State in particular. The

reports of the NBS (2005, p.69) and NBS (2007, p.222) corroborates this finding

when it noted that the poverty incidence of Rivers State rose from 29.09 in 2004

to 46.4 in 2007.

The persistence of corruption by government officials has further deprived the

people the benefits of the poverty reduction programmes. This study notes that

the Independent Power Project (IPP) embarked upon by the State and indeed

most other States of the country which is supposed to be a catalyst to economic

regeneration and human capital development were avenues employed to corner

resources for personal aggrandizement.

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The illegitimacy of the government characterized by massive electoral mal

practices has further debilitated the capacity of government to effectively pursue

and implement the cherished goals of poverty reduction.

The fact remains that the government and its paraphernalia lack both the moral

right and will power to execute programmes and stand accountable to the people

as they all grossly lack the mandate of the people. Probity, transparency and

accountability are thus lost and this is reflected in the level of arbitrariness and

indecorum witnessed in the administration of the State.

The level of corruption and electoral malpractices debilitates the capacity of

government to truly mobilize the people to a true economic development and

poverty reduction strategy resulting in the long run to anti-people stance,

repressiveness and alienation. Good governance is a sine qua non. The high

incidence of poverty in Rivers State and Nigeria in general appears to indict its

democracy. The transition from the protracted military rule to a democratic

regime in 1999 ushered hopes that were dashed by the end of the second

democratic regime in 2007. As Macperson (op cit, p.37) remarked, the essence of

a democracy is that it provides the condition for the full and free development of

the essential human capacities of all members of the society. Where essential

human capacities of a majority of the people are not developed, then democracy

loses its essence. We concur with Varshney’s (1999, p.4) remark that

democracies by themselves do not eliminate poverty, but economic strategies do.

If reforms that are geared towards enhancing mass welfare must be pursued in a

democratic framework, an imaginative integration of the political and the

economic remains quite necessary.

158

Democracy is not necessarily a sufficient condition for poverty reduction. A

democracy that does not pursue sound economic policies will be unable to raise

the welfare of its people. Democracy must not only be participatory in outlook, its

policies must be truly people-centred and its leaders transparent and accountable.

It is against this background that Ake (1994) advocates for the democracy of

empowerment as distinct from electoral democracy. He notes specifically that;

Africa is democratizing but the democratization occurring

in Africa does not appear to be in the least emancipating.

On the contrary, it is legitimizing the disempowerment of

ordinary people who seem to be worse off than they used

to be because their political oppression is no longer perceived

as a problem inviting solution, but a solution endowed

with moral and political legitimacy. (Ake, 1994:p.1)

He recommends that what is required is,

A social democracy which goes beyond abstract political

rights and takes economic and social rights seriously…

a democracy of empowerment which invests heavily in

the upliftment of ordinary people so that they can

participate effectively in governance and be more competitive

in promoting their material interests. (Ake, 1994:p.3)

There is need therefore, to greatly improve governance and to strengthen

institutional capacity and social programmes. To achieve this, there has to be a

zero-tolerance to corruption, indiscipline, mediocrity and nepotism.

Poverty reduction will have to adopt a holistic approach involving both the

government (all tiers) and the civil society for it to achieve a sustainable reduction

in poverty incidence (Ogwumike, 2002, p.13). There has to be a multi-sectoral

159

framework and unity of purpose at all levels of government. There has to be

harmonization, periodisation and rationalization of government programmes and

projects with sectoral linkages.

Furthermore, there is need for a more equitable redistribution of a society’s

wealth. Economic growth without even distribution is inimical to man-centred

development. There has to be emphasis on employment generation through

industrialization.

As Ogwumike (ibid, p. 15) aptly noted, there is need for the Federal Government

to relinquish most of its responsibility in the social sector to the state and local

governments. This will give the state and local councils more autonomy to evolve

and execute poverty alleviation programmes/projects that will take their peculiar

circumstances into consideration.

The essence of the foregoing is to empower the people. Empowering the people

is the anti-dote to poverty. Poverty is always and everywhere as a result of the

inability of man to overcome the elements of nature on one hand and the

inequitable distribution of resources including political power on the other. To

defeat poverty, Rivers State and Nigeria at large must empower its people in tools

and techniques, innovation and new ideas, a voice and increased participation.

To defeat poverty we must evolve a process which enables the people to realize

their potential, build self-confidence and lead lives of dignity and fulfillment.

160

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